[MaggieTru]

More of the pics. One is of the north porch brackets and you can see the blue pine tongue and groove boards that will be the loft floor. I don't know if they are new or salvage. Need to ask.

 

[marthamfi]

omg looking good!

 

[MaggieTru]

I LOVE my house. They took down the scaffold after I sent the update. Here is what I saw when I went out to feed the chickens this morning

 

[MaggieTru]

I fought the engineer and the engineer won...and then he kind of conceded.

I tried to force the engineer to admit he hadn't set a rate for billing after the contract we had closed and that I did not owe him for a bill I had not agreed to. We had a 3 month running email battle over this until my builder had to have another change made to the plans which had to be OK'd by the engineer of record. The change saves several hundred bucks in bolt costs...who knew bolts could cost so much when you need a few hundred of the big ones?
Then it became a range war where the "range" was time and the engineer had more of that than I did. So, I broke down and paid the 330$ bill that I don't think I should have been charged. Because it was clear he would not answer the bolt question until he got $$ and my builder was running out of other tasks to have the crew on. DAMN! I hate losing the battle more than losing the $$. Since i got my covid600 I cut the check. Within 2 hours of receiving it the engineer had answered the bolt question and said he would not charge for it and would inform me of a single price to answer any future questions BEFORE I am billed. So he conceded to all my terms other than cutting the original bill out or at least in half. I would have used more of a scorched-earth-burn-your-bridges type approach if I'd won and filed a bad yelp review or something. As it is, probably best to just say 'thank you" and move on.

 

[MaggieTru]

and now WITH the south porch framed and roofed! A whole new look. Cool.


sorry it's probably going to show up sideways...actual house is NOT sideways

 

[MaggieTru]

I really like the way the builder supported the upper roof overhang on the south side. Plans called for a full soffit. That made making it blend into the side roof complicated and wierd. Also would have looked heavier and with all this lumber/timber the house is already heavy looking...and actually heavy! Thank goodness I fought for the rubble trench foundation with tons of drainage. Spreads this weight over a 4' wide well drained trench full of rock, like a road bed, rather than a 6 to12"wide concrete poured foundation. The amount of water pouring out of the drain tile outlet is pretty amazing. I might be able to get micro-hydro power from it

 

[Contrary Housewife]

It's looking great, and I love your blue sky.

 

[MaggieTru]

Got the first "board and batten" live edge wall

This is the bathroom side of the kitchen/bathwall. The black pipe is the toilet...yes, it got tilted during the concrete pour. Now we have to deal with it. The wall is 2 or 3 inches behind the cook beam. Above that is the loft.

And...my subaru bit the dust. I found a 2002 honda CRV with 166000 miles for under 5000$...wish me luck! I couldn't even get the subaru to start to take it down and trade it in. The dealer drives by on his way to elsewhere so will pick it up in a week or 2. I don't care as long as it goes away.
The "new" car

I paid another big amount to the builder so...it was a SPENDY DAY. Thank goodness I had cash. That's why the car had to be cheap. I have 1400$ more in the car fund than I spent so if it does need a repair, I have it. I REALLY hope it's a goodone. The CR V's are popular around here, even very old ones, so it was one of those "take it or leave it" no time for a mechanic deals. I don't like doing that but it worked on the truck and the subaru (which did give me 140000 miles before it crapped out and the truck is still going strong). I'd taken more time off work than I could afford so...oh well. It has a rough idle but otherwise peachy seeming. I named it "Juanita" after a character in the film "Sordid Lives" ( I hear there is a series based on the film but I haven't seen it). Juanita is a barfly with some miles on her.

I stopped at a couple of thrift stores on the way home and did spend 7$ I didn't need to. 2$ for things on my list. 2$ of "not need" were for a woodstove/campfire popcorn popper. I can now have popcorn at the shed. It is often the cheapest whole grain available....that's a stretch to justify it but there you go. 4$ for a set of 3 enamel sauce pans. 2 are usable and I really like enamel. One is too chipped so it is a chicken scraps pan.
1$ for a scrub brush that goes on a long handle. Been wanting one for the concrete floor in the future house. This one has all natural bristles which I like better. 1$ for an old "owner built home" DIY book for a cousin who just bought 80 acres. It's her "land warming" gift because it's the best book I used while planning my place. Small efficient easy to build and easy to heat house plans and instructions on how to figure all that out for your own floorplan/dream house.

Something else happened today but I can't even remember what it is!

 

[marthamfi]

that sucks about your car but at least you got a new one. there is a shortage of good used cars here too. your house is looking good! score at the thrift store!

 

[MaggieTru]

that sucks about your car but at least you got a new one. there is a shortage of good used cars here too. your house is looking good! score at the thrift store!

Thanks Martha! I'm telling friends who see the house and/or car that they can ONLY say positive things. The car isn't perfect...under 5000$ during the pandemic has been a challenge! It's what the budget will bare.
People came by today to see the house and were super impressed. I did notice that the builder made a pad for my practice cordwood structure (coop? greenhouse? tool shed? Sauna???)..where I said I wanted to put the shed I live in to make it a guest house...oops. I will build something there. If it's crap I can tear it down in a few years and still put the shed there. If not, the shed will go a bit uphill and I"ll put steps or a path down to the big house (the 800sq foot "big house"...). My builder is doing a great job overall, and for what I'm getting the price is fantastic...but he's a tad uncontrollable.

 

[marthamfi]

you can get a lot of good cars under $5k ! don't think we have paid more then that in decades. Just lots of people think if a car is over a few years old and not all the bells and whistles then it can't be good. yes our local used car guy says so hard getting cars for his lot and a lot to states too. ..sauna may be fun! one of those things you just wait and see how you feel about it. things always change. always trade offs with people isn't it!

 

[MaggieTru]

Thanks Martha! The stair case is started...it's going to be the world's coolest trip hazard.

 

[MaggieTru]

Staircase finally done! You can also see an interior wall with the trim on it and the space for a window. The wall sets off the entryway/battery-room. It will let light into the space under the steps.

The steps....they were planned as ending at the post. Uh...bit short. And a bit steep. But SO PRETTY! I love the look but don't know if they will work long term. He didn't hook them to the floor, which is good. I can remove the attachments at the top and remove the steps if I need to.
There is thick wallpaper stuff (not the glue-back kind, just some scraps he had) to protect the steps so you can't see them, but they are live edge blue pine too. So...awkward and steeper than I want, but gorgeous and probably workable if I'm willing to back down them like they are a ladder rather than walk down them like they are stairs. We will see. I will wait until I'm all ok'd and permitted and moved in to worry about that. The loft is officially storage not a living space so a ladder would be legal.


This is the wall between the sleeping area and the bathroom. With trim. The bottom trim looks pretty but leaves those dust gathering gaps. This is why I asked if the metal hooking the wall to the ground would be painted brown like the brackets. Nope. So, he used the trim, which is lovely, to cover that up. It's on with a few finish nails so I can pull it off easily if it doesn't work for me. Or lift it a bit to leave a little gap so dust can be vaccuumed out.

I had the builder sign the big beam, the guys who worked on it too. He had a brand he'd never used so he put it on. When I got home there was a fire going in an old tire rim...I asked if they were opening a hobo camp! It was to heat up the branding iron. Funny.
The builder had also named some of the chickens and as we were talking, one of the roosters did his job on a hen RIGHT behind the builder who just pretended it wasn't happening. I yelled at the chickens to rent a room.
Anyway, here he is putting the brand on the beam. He was happy to do it.

 

[marthamfi]

Very nice! you must be excited to be near the end! you have been working on this for so long. The stairs are beautiful but yes thought it was a ladder not stairs.

 

[MaggieTru]

Wrote a check to the builder yesterday. 2 years until the next payment is due. 25% of the price for this phase is delayed. That is so I can get septic and windows and etc. I asked mrs builder to get a guy up here to put up the plastic they promised around the first story. The outhouse got picked up this week. Now I need the plastic up to keep the critters out and shelter the materials for the next tasks. No more pics until something happens.

I am hardcore saving. Emptied the account and then having to get a car didn't help. Finally got plates on the car yesterday. Total cost is just under 5000$. Minimized that. Hoping to keep food costs at zero this month to put another couple hundred in the hose fund. Staying home, eating what I have and getting 2nd harvest over stock SHOULD get me thru. Decided not to get bees for now unless I can get a swam for free.

I went thru the budget to see where else I will cut next. hard choices now. Coffee and meals out are gone already. Haven't spent on clothes in months. Driving less and less which saves on gas. Hmmmmm...

 

[MaggieTru]

oh for pete's sake! The "new" 19 year old car is in the shop getting a diagnosis. The engine light came on. Just over 2 weeks since I got it. I knew it would need some repairs but was hoping for maybe a whole month...still, here's hoping it's not toooo bad. I did keep 1000$ in the budget for repairs on it since I like how it drives and I'd set aside a full 6000$ for a vehicle. With purchase/tax/title I am at 4950$.

Oh well. The savings are building up. getting another pay check thursday and really really focused on not spending any money I don't need to.

 

[MaggieTru]

OK, it was an "evap" code. Could be that pesky replaced gas cap....let's assume it's that. My colleague showed me I can buy my own code reader thingy for my old rigs for about 40$ and clear my own engine lights instead of bugging the auto shop every couple of days.

 

[marthamfi]

my hubby has one of those ..got one years ago one of the first and then updated when smartphones were a thing. it is very handy. sometimes there isn't much to cut from a budget if you have already cut a lot. but so exciting getting your dream built.

 

[Contrary Housewife]

Glad it turned out to not be a big deal. Have the same issue with my car at times, light comes on for the stupidest things, like when the outside air temp is "too cold" I'm supposed to adjust air pressure in my tires. Since we can have temperature swings of 50* in 24 hours that's not going to happen. I'm not spending half a day at the repair shop because we had a cold morning.

 

[MaggieTru]

I found a good code reader online for 62...same one is 169 if I buy it locally. As much as I want to support local, I'm going to have to go with the online one. I have about 5 people who said they will want to borrow it so that's nice. Lately I've been more of a "taker" among my friends. I like to have a product or tool to lend back to people.

It's going to be cold tonight! Wish I was in the new house but not quite yet.